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About This Site
The purpose of this site is to help those
interested in a self sufficient lifestyle [also referred to as: voluntary
simplicity, frugal or sustainable lifestyle and homesteading] to easily obtain
information available on the Internet about animal husbandry, building, healthy
living, home education and homesteading in general. It is our goal to
frequently update the links for accuracy and to add new links as they become
known to us. The links on this site have been prescreened for relevancy to
the topic. I'm concentrating my first efforts in categorizing the slew of
links I've already bookmarked over the years for my own use in researching and
implementing our beginning steps toward a more self sufficient lifestyle.
Another goal of this site is to document our
journey to a more self sufficient lifestyle. The Dervaes family of
Pasadena, CA have been an inspiration to me. Their Path
to Freedom website is well worth (the pictures alone are an inspiration!)
the time invested to visit it! While we do not plan to become totally self
reliant or even as self sufficient as others have become (i.e.: living of the
grid, etc.), we do hope to encourage others to begin and take steps as far as
they are led to go on their journey to self reliance. By sharing our
process with you through articles and pictures posted on this site, we hope to
equip you to become less dependent on the global economy (by encouraging
participation in your local community's economy), to reduce your debt (by
teaching you learn to live within your means instead of relying on credit), and
to make time for the things that are really important (by helping you realize
what's *really* important in your life). We believe that no matter *where*
you live, you can begin to downsize, simplify and reclaim your life.
About Us
Currently we live in a rural community in
southern Nevada -- that's right, the desert southwest. By population it's considered a suburban area, so I guess
you could call us "suburban homesteaders." I like David
Walbert's term "halfway
homestead." Not that we plan to homestead "halfway,"
but that we'll live each day working a little more towards the vision
we have. My parents and I are
currently in the process of combining our households (7
people). We are selling both our homes and moving onto one property.
This will decrease our square footage house-wise (about 500 sq ft less) but
increase our property size (from 1 1/4 acres total to 2 1/2). It should
also save us some money. . . 
We
finally moved onto the property in September 2005. My parents had
moved in in June 2005. About a year before that, however, my Dad
had some medical tests done before having radiation seeds implanted to
cure his prostate cancer. One of the tests, when read by the
radiologist, indicated a rare diesease called Amyloidosis,
that affects the soft tissues in the body. In my Dad's case, the
radiologist said the Amyloidosis
was affecting his heart. The cardiologist disagreed and nothing
further was ever done about the diagnosis. A
short time after we all moved onto the property, my Dad's health begain
to deteriorate rapidly. He passed away one year later in October
2006. His heart failed as a direct result of the Amyloidosis
that the cardiologist insisted my Dad didn't have. We
never did get the garden going, or get our mini goats, or
chickens. I did have stakes in the ground where fences, the garden
beds and greenhouse were going to go. I also planted some grapes,
fruit trees and pine trees. Unforturnately my Mom has no interest
in anything "homestead-like." I can't even get her to
compost the scraps from preparing dinner. [sigh] My Mom has
also decided that the house is too big and the property too large and is
planning to put it on the market in March 2008. So
all of that leaves me still looking for my own "prairie home"
to homestead. Currently, I'm trying to sell most of our
homeschooling library (we are done homeschooling) and my book inventory
from this site. I'll probably also be selling my home quilting
system--although I go back and forth on that one as it is a source of
income for me. We are planning a move to Oklahoma (without my Mom
who's planning to stay in southern NV) sometime in 2008. I'm
working on a couple other websites that will bring in some much needed
income while working on selling off our library and book
inventory. *When* we can move will depend on having the money to
move and having a large enough income to afford to live on our own
again. :o)
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